Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

High-speed action. Robotic insect and animal racers. Wii Wheel controls. Bowling, poker, clowns – and sandwiches! Add them all together and you get the wild, nonstop fun of Excitebots: Trick Racing.

• This game takes the big-air thrills and simple pick-up-and-play controls of Excite Truck™ and ramps up the fun with a constant barrage of funky challenges and mini-games performed at blinding speed. Players shoot goals, throw pies and even play poker in the middle of rowdy races around off-road tracks.
• Having your vehicles drive, walk or fly around the track quickly is one thing, but it’s more important to go around in style. Players earn stars for huge jumps, cool tricks and daring feats at high speed.
• Six players can race online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in both Excite Race and Poker Race modes. If friends can’t join online, players can exchange ghost data via WiiConnect24™ and challenge their friends to outdo their most daring tricks. (Note that broadband access is required for online play. For more information about this topic, visit www.Nintendo.com.)

How to progress through the game: Players race around tracks at high speeds while performing stunts and participating in mini-games, all in an effort to earn stars. Players win bonus stars for crossing the finish line sooner, but stunts and style are as important as speed. Stars can be traded for a variety of goodies, like new vehicles, icons and statues.

Controls: The 2 Button on the Wii Remote™ controller is the gas. The + Control Pad gives drivers a speed boost. Players turn the Wii Wheel accessory left or right to steer, tilt the Wii Wheel in mid-air to glide or to adjust pitch for perfect landings, swing the Wii Wheel in circular motions around boost bars to build up speed and press the A Button to activate items or to cash in hands in Poker Mode. Note: The Wii Wheel accessory is recommended but not required to race. Wii Remote controllers can be used on their own as well.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features: Just as in Excite Truck, drivers can hit blocks that morph the terrain before their eyes and create ramps from which players can launch mega-jumps. Players can aim for and swing around boost bars or open presents that unleash a variety of wild items, such as bottle rocket boosts or clacker mouths that chomp on other racers to slow them down. Players also can activate in-race mini-games including:

• Soccer: Drive into the soccer ball and attempt to hit it into the goal.
• Bowling: Drive through the pins and attempt to get a strike.
• Darts: Line up your bot and let the dart fly. Try to hit bull’s-eye in the distance.
• Clowns: Hit the clown in the face with a pie by throwing it at just the right angle and speed.
• Sandwiches: Drive through the ingredients in the proper order to make a delicious sandwich.

Do you know of any other game that features high-speed robotic racers combined with bowling, poker, clown faces and sandwich making? Didn’t think so.

Content on this page comes directly from press releases and fact sheets provided by publishers and developers and was not written by the Game Revolution staff.